Nonplussed about Unpaired Words (or: a brief digression about problematic words, Euclidian geometry, and Sesame Street)

This bit of tangential thinking was forced upon me by the word “nonplussed.” Which reminds me (a tangent of a tangent—I should coin a word for this definition), of Sesame Street, a show that existed even when I was young, kids, only with more Big Bird and no Elmo. The show would always announce that […]

And Now For Something Completely Different: Another Firewater Found Poem

A while back, just for kicks, I used the words of Ross Macdonald, in his novel Meet Me at the Morgue, to compose a poem. Macdonald’s words, all of them, assembled into a different form. I learned that there is a name for this type of thing, and it’s not plagiarism. It’s called found poetry, […]

More Facts About Words and Phrases Learned While Looking Up Other Things

As always, I give all credit for the idea of this post to the late journalist Sydney J. Harris, who would occasionally include something he called “Things I Learned While Looking Up Other Things” in his syndicated column. This is a post about words and phrases. As a writer, these are my building blocks, so […]

10-List: Quotidian Quotes, Part Deux (Firewater’s List of Everyday Wisdom)

More commonplace wisdom for those of you open to advice during your personal pursuit of happiness. I’m not claiming that all of these are original thoughts. I’m just claiming to have included them in a 10-List. And, you can quote me on that. The video rental places may have all closed, but this advice […]

10-List: Quotidian Quotes (Firewater’s List of Everyday Wisdom)

“Quotidian” is a highly unusual word that means “everyday” or “ordinary.” Which I think is ironic. I’m not claiming that the following are original words of wisdom at all. However, I think each one offers wise advice, and since I can’t find out the original author for any of them, they might as well belong […]

Facts About Words and Phrases Learned While Looking Up Other Things

Let’s Agree to Disagree

A conversation I may have had . . . “Let’s just agree to disagree,” Steve said. I shook my head. I’m certain my expression showed my disgust. “What?” Steve said. “What’s up with that look?” “‘Let’s just agree to disagree,’” I repeated. “When someone says that, what they mean is ‘I’m right, you’re wrong, and […]

Stranger Fonts (a minor digression about typeface design)

On television, it is popular to characterize nerds as people who dedicate too much time to minutiae. I haven’t watched Big Bang Theory in a couple of seasons, but I remember that Sheldon hosted a web series about flags. And on The Middle (a show I still watch, which is completing its final season […]

I’m Feeling Particularly German

I love words. I thank you for reading my words. I want to tell you something about words that I think is important. This was a paraphrase of the beginning of the classic George Carlin bit about the seven “dirty” words you can’t say on television. This was genius comedy at its most profane. And […]

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